One of them is Serwar Zeki. Only three days before Christmas Eve he opened a new branch of the snack chain "Tante Emma GmbH" to offer bratwurst, curry sausage or chips to passers-by on Sternstraße. "The new law is causing us great difficulties and financial challenges. If we have to give out a receipt to every customer, we need a lot more paper for the till roll," says Zeki.

Because handing out receipts for each individual purchase is also time-consuming, Zeki is already thinking about working in double shifts at peak times in the future: "One would have to stand at the till all the time, while the other serves. But that means an estimated 100 hours more work per month," estimates Zeki. In addition, he has already made the experience at the corner shop in Cologne, where he had previously worked, that customers don't want any receipts: "In Cologne, we at least have trade fair visitors who ask for a receipt, but that will be different in Bonn.“

Hasan Bakir, owner of the Kiosk01 near the Old Town Hall, has similar experiences: "I ask every customer if he wants a receipt, but most of them refuse it," says Bakir. Issuing a receipt for every single purchase, no matter how small, means not only additional work for him, but also additional costs due to the purchase of paper rolls. Although the kiosk owner is already prepared for the start of the new year and has already stocked up on several boxes of paper, he sees this as a waste of paper and also fears enormous financial losses due to the number and length of sales slips he will have to print out in the future: "If I print out a receipt for every lollipop, then I won't have any profit left," says Bakir, who also thinks of the many students who stock up on sweet little things from him: "My roll of paper will soon be used up," says Bakir.

Even Peter Paetz, owner of Imbiss Karl on Hans-Böckler-Straße, can in no way understand the introduction of the law on the obligation to issue receipts, because all sales would be registered in the cash registers even without a printout of receipts. He also wonders about the timing of the introduction of the law, since the Ministry of Finance had ordered new cash registers for all retailers at the turn of the year 2020/2021 anyway, which are supposed to be more forgery-proof through a technical upgrade. „To introduce the receipt requirement duty just one year beforehand, I cannot understand," says Paetz. Until now, he has only printed out sales slips on request. "96 percent of my customers do not want a receipt. In addition, everything is registered in the cash registers anyway," says Paetz, pointing out the damaging effect of thermal paper on the environment and to a recommendation that has already been made elsewhere: One should collect receipts that are not taken and bring them along to the tax office for disposal.

(Original text: Sebastian Flick / Translation: Mareike Graepel)